Chapter 115 – If I Had Known It Would Take 2887...
It was already too late—Eli couldn't comprehend anything else.
Facing the solar ray system, though slightly smaller in scale, still powerful enough to change the entire battlefield, Eli made his decision.
"Please... one more time, EXAM."
At Eli's call, the indicator lights on the EZ-SR lit up red once again.
But this time, the girl trapped within the EXAM system didn't speak.
Perhaps she already understood what Eli was about to do—and the inevitable outcome.
"What are you planning?"
The voice of Death echoed in Eli's ear.
"You guided me here, didn't you? You should already know what I'm about to do."
As he replied to Death's knowingly hollow question, Eli's hands raced across the control panel.
The EZ-SR, pushed by the EXAM system, entered an overload state.
It didn't carry a nuclear warhead—but wasn't a mobile suit itself a walking nuclear bomb?
Eli would force the reactor into meltdown, rupture the core, and self-destruct within the solar ray system—destroying the payload and obliterating it!
"Never thought you'd be the kind willing to sacrifice yourself to save everyone."
Death gently wrapped its arms around Eli.
"I'll make sure to safeguard your soul. Consider it my reward to you—as Death."
"Aren't you supposed to punish me? After all, many people won't die because of this."
Eli closed his eyes and leaned back, as if willingly falling into Death's embrace.
"Thanks for the offer. It's true—I want to save them. But I'm not planning to die here."
A warmth spread from within Eli, driving away Death's cold.
"I'm glad to hear that."
Death smiled along with him before withdrawing its embrace.
In its place was Sayla—her ethereal form, bare and unreal—embracing Eli from the front!
BOOM—
The mobile suit trembled.
The Gundam had grabbed onto the EZ-SR.
Both cockpits opened simultaneously. As Eli's seat rose, he saw Sayla right in front of him.
Just like long ago in the hangar, when Sayla had reached out and pulled him from the cockpit, she now extended her hand once more!
"Hurry!"
Sayla understood the urgency. Despite the danger, she'd charged into the heart of the solar ray system, risking everything to save Eli.
Without hesitation, Eli grabbed her hand, and Sayla used all her strength to pull him into the Gundam's cockpit.
"If I'd known it would end like this, I would've painted it red."
Eli cast one last glance at the EZ-SR, its right arm and left leg all that remained intact. There was a flicker of reluctance in his eyes.
But he quickly shoved it aside, focusing fully on piloting the Gundam.
"Thank you."
A faint girl's voice echoed in Eli's ear, and Sayla, too, turned back to look at the legendary machine one last time.
"Things are about to get rough—hold on tight!"
Only thirty seconds remained before the solar laser fired.
Though it was his first time piloting a Gundam in actual combat, and all system assists had vanished, Eli didn't panic.
As the thrusters preheated, he pressed a button.
The Gundam's extra armor and weaponry detached, scattering away.
Gripping the beam rifle, he accelerated, rushing back the way he had come!
In the debris-strewn passageways, the Gundam streaked forward like a blue comet.
Zeon forces tried to block him, but Eli largely ignored them. Only the few mobile suits directly in his path were swiftly destroyed.
Even without the system's enhancements, Eli's senses had never been clearer.
It was as if someone was guiding him forward.
If Gihren could have seen Eli's path, he'd have been shocked—it was the shortest, fastest route out of A Baoa Qu.
But Gihren was no longer there to see it.
What happened in the command room was a story for another time. Right now, Eli had reached the final gate.
It had already been breached. A mobile suit stood waiting for Eli's arrival.
"Amuro…"
Eli almost laughed out loud.
Sayla, seated behind him, and Amuro, who had fought alongside him—they had been his guiding lights, helping him transcend the system and embrace the possibility of becoming a Newtype.
The moment they burst into open space, explosions flared inside A Baoa Qu, flames sweeping through corridors and hangars.
Eli's Gundam hovered beside Amuro's NT-1.
The NT-1 bore several gashes—clear signs of the brutal battle Amuro had fought, even with a one-armed mobile suit.
"Thank you, Amuro. And you too, Sayla."
Eli tilted his head, resting it gently on Sayla's shoulder.
If he could, he would have kissed her right then.
But it wasn't necessary. There was now a deeper understanding between them.
Below, A Baoa Qu burned, spewing fire and debris.
Above, the approaching Federation fleet loomed, flanked by countless mobile suits.
The White Base was among them.
Every ship, every pilot, saluted the two Gundams.
They all knew how dire the situation had been—how everything had hinged on this final battle for control of the solar ray system.
And when the friendly signal inside the laser system had vanished at the darkest moment, it had become their brightest beacon of hope.
The battle was over. The Federation forces were mopping up Zeon's remnants and pacifying A Baoa Qu.
For some reason, Zeon's counterattack had lacked proper coordination. Some fleets had even retreated from the battlefield entirely.
But instead of heading for Side 3's homeland, they fled to even more distant territories.
Rumors hinted at an unexpected coup within Side 3 itself.
As for the heroes of this battle—Eli and Amuro—they had already returned to the White Base.
It was December 31st, Universal Century 0079. As the New Year's bells prepared to ring, so too did the death knell of the Principality of Zeon, echoing through the void above A Baoa Qu.
"Sayla, stay with me."
"Now you say that? You idiot—it's way too late."
Inside the Gundam's cockpit, the two embraced tightly.
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